Role of serum melatonin level in COVID-19 mortality and hospital admission

Abstract

Aims: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a virus zoonotic in nature, which presents itself with a broad spectrum of respiratory involvement. Without any specific treatment, various treatment modalities and markers for severity have been suggested. This study aimed to investigate the role of melatonin in the severity of COVID-19 infection, with the hypothesis that melatonin levels correlated with mortality, ward and intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Methods: The study was performed as a single-center prospective cohort. Patients who had been evaluated at the emergency ward for COVID-19 suspicion were defined as the study population. Those who had at least one COVID-19 RT-PCR positivity and did not have a history of cranial operation, being a shift worker, or under melatonin treatment were chosen. Ninety-six patients were deemed suitable for the study who had all the criteria fulfilled. Descriptive analysis for demographic data, Spearman correlation, and Mann-Whitney test for nonparametric evaluation was used. Results: Eighty patients were considered suitable after excluding 16 patients, primarily due to improper melatonin sampling times. A positive correlation was seen between melatonin levels and intensive care admission, which was not observed in ward admission or overall mortality. This implicates the possibility of melatonin being used as a marker for the severity analysis of COVID-19. Conclusion: With limited sensitivity, melatonin may be used for the evaluation of ICU admission. Its role in ward admission and overall mortality remains limited.